(a) In General.—The Commandant may, on a reimbursable or a non-reimbursable basis, make a training available to emergency response providers whenever the Commandant determines that—

(1) a member of the Coast Guard, who is scheduled to participate in such training, is unable or unavailable to participate in such training;

(2) no other member of the Coast Guard, who is assigned to the unit to which the member of the Coast Guard who is unable or unavailable to participate in such training is assigned, is able or available to participate in such training; and

(3) such training, if made available to such emergency response providers, would further the goal of interoperability among Federal agencies, non-Federal governmental agencies, or both.

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(b) Emergency Response Providers Defined.—In this section, the term “emergency response providers” has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101).

(c) Treatment of Reimbursement.—Any reimbursements for a training that the Coast Guard receives under this section shall be credited to the appropriation used to pay the costs for such training.

(d) Status; Limitation on Liability.—

(1) Status.—Any individual to whom, as an emergency response provider, training is made available under this section, who is not otherwise a Federal employee, shall not, because of that training, be considered a Federal employee for any purpose (including the purposes of chapter 81 of title 5 (relating to compensation for injury) and sections 2671 through 2680 of title 28 (relating to tort claims)).

(2) Limitation on liability.—The United States shall not be liable for actions taken by an individual in the course of training made available under this section.